Born the daughter of a mountain called Himalaya, she won Shiva’s affection only after undergoing severe asceticdiscipline. The couple had two children. The Mahabharata, the Ramayana, Kalidasa’s poem Kumarasambhava (“The Birth of Kumara”), and the Puranas all relate that their son Kumara (Skanda) was born without her agency from Shiva’s seed. The Puranas also tell how, against Shiva’s will, Parvati created their other son, the elephant-headed Ganesha. Parvati is often represented in sculpture with Shiva—as an attendant figure, or looking on as he performs a miraculous feat, or engaged in a game with him in their mountain kingdom of Kailasa—and is always depicted as a mature and beautiful woman. The Tantras—texts of sects worshipping Shiva—are written as a discussion between Parvati and Shiva.

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major world religion originating on the Indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. Although the name Hinduism is relatively new, having been coined by British writers in the first decades of the 19th century, it refers to a rich cumulative...

one of the main deities of Hinduism, whom Shaivites worship as the supreme god. Among his common epithets are Shambhu (“Benign”), Shankara (“Beneficent”), Mahesha (“Great Lord”), and Mahadeva (“Great God”).

(from Greek askeō: “to exercise,” or “to train”), the practice of the denial of physical or psychological desires in order to attain a spiritual ideal or goal. Hardly any religion has been without at least traces or some features of asceticism.